'My 600-lb Life': Ashley says she might die because of her weight, fears her mom may have to bury her
Ashley Taylor has struggled with her weight ever since she was a young girl and the circumstances around her made her turn to food in a bid to cope with everything she was feeling.
Ashley revealed that for a long time she stayed with her mother and grandmother. When her mother was diagnosed with epilepsy and her grandmother passed away due to cancer, she felt her world fall apart and the only glue that held her together was food.
Ashley confessed that food helped her forget all the problems that she had. She also revealed that while growing up she was raped by her neighbor which affected her a lot. While he was eventually arrested, the incident left an impact on Ashley. She tried to go on with her life but as she grew, lack of having a support system around her pushed her into catfishing people.
She confessed that she regretted hurting people while adding that catfishing became like her second addiction. After facing various ups and downs in her life, Ashley decided to turn her life around because she wanted to live her life. She confessed that she did not want to die before really living while adding that she feared her mother will have to bury her.
Ashley decided to meet Dr Younan Nowzaradan with the hope that he will help her to change her life. When Ashley reached for a consultation she found out that she weighed 486 lbs. She was happy with her weight as she told Dr Nowzaradan that she previously weighed around 600lbs but had lost weight due to depression.
Dr Nowzaradan advised her to lose 20lbs in one month if she wanted to get approved for weight loss surgery. Ashley agreed and decided to work hard towards losing weight. She stuck to her diet and eliminated junk food from her diet. She also attempted to exercise. When she went for a consultation for the second time, she realized that she had lost 10lbs and now weighed 476lbs.
Ashley was happy about the weight loss but Dr Nowzaradan was not. He wasn't happy that she did not lose 20lbs and asked her to go for therapy to help her with her mental health. While Ashley hesitated at first, she realized it would be good for her to deal with some of the things in the past.
When Ashley went for therapy, she let out everything that was going on in her mind. She confessed that she felt upset about going back to some of the things that she wanted to forget. However, the therapy made her realize how it was important for her to start losing weight.
Despite this, there had been moments when she went back to eating junk food for comfort. When she went for another consultation, she realized that eating the way she did only created problems as she now weighed 475lbs and had lost only 2lbs.
Dr Nowzaradan told her the importance of her sticking to her diet and making sure that she is also exercising. Ashley was not happy to hear these words and walked away from the consultation as she was disappointed that Dr Nowzaradan did not see the hard work she was putting in. However, after spending some time alone, she decided to return and sit down with Dr Nowzaradan to have a conversation.
She admitted it was wrong for her to walk away and agreed to keep working hard. She started this while creating a real profile of herself online, as suggested by her therapist. She later enrolled herself in a boxing class as she thought it would be the best way to work out while also knowing the techniques to defend herself.
She was happy about the change and was looking forward to meeting Dr Nowzaradan again. Before that, she had to reach out to her family to make amends with her family. While things turned sore between them after they found out about her catfishing incident, Ashley decided to open up to her mother and friend.
She felt good about saying all her problems out aloud and felt positive about the changes in her life. However, when she weighed herself during the consultation, she weighed 469lbs and had lost only 6lbs. Dr Nowzaradan admittedly wasn't pleased as he told her that he would not approve her for the surgery unless she lost more weight.
He asked her to keep working hard and lose 40lbs in two months while continuing therapy. Ashley agreed to work on herself and not give up.
'My 600-lb Life' airs on Wednesdays at 8 pm ET on TLC.